AUTUMN IN NEW YORK

I cannot remember the last time I turned to the stranger sitting next to me at intermission and asked, “So, what do you think?” It was an indication of my incredulity at just how disappointed I was in Other Desert Cities at the Hudson Theatre in New York’s Broadway district.

It isn’t often that a “straight play” gets the high-profile send-off by the New York press as this one has … a reflection, no doubt, of the star power of the cast, led by Julias Louis-Dreyfus, Ed Harris, and Allison Janney (with Joe Keery and Lily Rabe in support). It is even less often that I review a play still in previews, but Other Desert Cities was only three days away from its official opening when I arrived in New York with no plans for my first night in town and discovered there was one seat still available at the Hudson.

The play, by Jon Robin Baitz is very so-so. Why this work was resurrected from its introduction 15 years ago is one of those legit theatre mysteries I will not attempt to solve. I did find it curious that during the intervening time the play was “at rest” no one took the trouble to bring the politics referenced in the play up to date given the hyper-political environment in which we now live.

 A check of my watch showed that, even with intermission, the running time was a very typical two hours and fifteen minutes. Meaning the play wasn’t that long; it just seemed interminable.

Strangely enough, actor Joe Keery … making his Broadway debut … sorta steals the show from the stellar cast who play his parents and aunt. You might remember him from the Netflix award winning series, Stranger Things. In this play, Keery gets some help from the playwright(s) in that his part is … by far … the best written and the one with whom most audiences will identify (or will at least recognize).

Lily Rabe, who plays the young writer on whom this entire plot revolves, performs her play-ending monologue perfectly, which had me wishing she had given this kind performance earlier in the play. Louis-Dreyfus, Harris, and Janney? Like so many in that audience, I am a huge fan of what they have done throughout their respective careers. This evening? Not so much. Not bad, please understand, but nothing to write home … or a review … about.

In less than 100 hours from this writing, the NY critics will weigh-in. I will bet they will agree with me on this sub-standard play and its uninspired direction. We shall see.

NOTE: the NYC critics did come forward generally with more enthusiasm for the stars of the show than I may have demonstrated (I think it is only natural that being a product of Hollywood I am a little less starstruck than they) but all came close to agreeing with me about the (at best) unevenness of the play.

Meanwhile, back to the stranger who was sitting next to me. Turns out she came to the theatre not knowing what the show was about and, like many others I am sure, was attracted to the all-star cast, but was generally disappointed in the totality of what she had seen.

I rejoined that I was there because the subject of the play was that of a memoir written by a member of the family and the impact it had on those assembled for a Christmas weekend in Palm Springs, California. I added that since my memoir had just been released I was naturally curious about this play.

The attractive seat mate was understandably curious. “What memoir?”

Be still my heart.

I told her the title and on hearing the words “Cagney & Lacey” she gasped. “My father’s favorite show,” she exclaimed, then went on to expound on how, when she was a child, her dad had insisted she sit down with him on Monday nights so that they could watch the show together.

She quickly took to her phone and googled the title and up popped the Amazon advert with a picture of the cover of Before and After Cagney & Lacey.  I went on to further explain that the book has a predecessor, Cagney & Lacey … and Me.

The night at the Hudson was, to be fair, not a total loss. I am all but positive the woman bought both books.

The quarter page advertisement in the Sunday New York Times for Operation Mincemeat contained the title of the show, the name of the theater, and one quote from Taffy Brodhesser-Akner of the famed NY Times: “The Best Musical I’ve Ever Seen.” That alone was enough for me to call the ticket broker and book my airfare to The Big Apple.

 I know, I know, one might think that at my age, and being a guy who has spent a good part of his life making shows about cops and detectives, I might have done a bit of investigation … but no. I waited until after I had seen the musical from England before making an inquiry of Google as to just who Ms. Brodesser-Akner is and how long has she been reviewing theatre for the NY Times?

Turns out she is not on the staff of theater experts working for the Times. Rather, she is a staff writer for that paper’s Sunday magazine section and author of a successful novel, Fleishman is in Trouble.

Operation Mincemeat may be the “best musical” Ms. Brodesser-Akner has ever seen, but one day … maybe after seeing a show by Rodgers & Hammerstein, or Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton, or just about anything by Stephen Sondheim … she might want to write something in that Sunday magazine in the way of an apology.

Please do not misunderstand, Operation Mincemeat is a good show … a more than decent entry. It is not a great show, nor is it something that will go down in the ages as something worthy of worldwide veneration. Ms. Brodesser-Akner has weighed in on something she clearly knows very little about. Operation Mincemeat isn’t even the best musical currently on Broadway… a list that includes Wicked, Hadestown, Hamilton, Maybe Happy Endings, Chicago … and yes, Aladdin, MJ The Musical, Schmigadoon! and The Lion King continue to be on the Great White Way as well. All of them are better musicals than Operation Mincemeat.

Okay, moving on from the unqualified, self-anointed Times critic: the choreography and direction of Operation Mincemeat by Jenny Arnold and Robert Hastie are very good, at its best bringing to mind the English classic of Graham Greene’s Travels With My Aunt directed by Giles Havergal where four men in matching tan suits played all the parts, including the protagonist Henry Pulling and his eccentric Aunt Augusta. That was the best of its kind I have ever seen and that was over a third of a century ago. Moments (but just moments) in Operation Mincemeat are reminiscent of that.

The cast is uniformly good (not great) with Jeff Kready getting most of the huzzas from the packed Golden Theatre on 45^th street.

The underlying story is based on a very real World War II scam perpetrated by England’s MI-5 against Hitlers’ Nazi Germany. There is a 2022 movie of the same name that deals with the same caper without any singing or dancing. It, too, is worthy and on Netflix and if you already have a Netflix subscription, about $300 cheaper to watch than this live production. FYI, Jesse Green, the real NY Times reviewer, was much tougher on this production than I.

Schmigadoon! at the Nederlander Theatre was next on my list, although my arrival was more than a little belated since it has been months since the show won the Tony Award for Best Musical. I must also confess to never having seen the very successful Apple TV series of the same name.

The Broadway show is a genuine hoot and it is an easy recommend to anyone who likes musicals … interesting in that it just may also be fun for anyone who does not like musicals.

Schmigadoon! is a spoof … of the musical. Oklahoma, Carousel, South Pacific, Sound of Music are all liberally “referenced” stylistically and musically throughout. So, too, are Finian’s Rainbow, Music Man and, of course, Brigadoon.

Fortunately for the producers, parody is hardly ever “actionable” but if it were, there is enough here to fill a court calendar for a year.

The point is, like the old Forbidden Broadway (but on steroids), this kind of stuff is great fun for any theater buff as they are “in” on the various references. For those who hate musicals, this Schmigadoon! makes enough fun of the genre to quite possibly endear itself with that group as well.

Something for everyone and I feel fine about recommending it for everyone and anybody. I may even break down and see what the TV series is doing.

The Roundabout Theatre Company is one I have found praiseworthy more often than not. So, when my plane out of the Big Apple was delayed on my final Sunday in New York, I popped over to check out Moliere’s The Imaginary Invalid that was in its final week of previews.

The first 90 seconds are applause worthy … the staging, the setting of the scene. All truly imaginary and, I suspect, a more than honest effort to get those of us in the audience transported back to a theater in mid-17^th century France … the time when this play was first produced.

If I had left after that first minute and a half, I might have spent the rest of my life wondering what they could possibly do for an encore. I did not leave, but there were moments when I wished I had.

Moliere wrote socially relevant stuff. So much so that the Catholic church at the time had him banned. But that was nearly 400 years ago. Some progress has been made … even in the MAGA universe in which we find ourselves today.

I concede that the costumes are lush. The set is lovely, the actors uniformly excellent, the direction … properly encourages the actors to be bawdy and/or over-the-top. I just have to ask why? Why do this and why would most any potential audience out there want to go see something like this? The Roundabout is a subscription funded theater company and apparently one that has artistic license to do just about whatever it is they want. Good for them. I wonder if they would be willing to give me my $200 back?

And finally … a final New York shoutout to my friend, Miche Bonett and her very lovely documentary salute to The Guardians of Broadway … meaning Phil Smith (longtime leader of the Shubert Organization), Jimmy Nederlander, Sr. (founder of the Nederlander Organization) and Paul Lubin (Vice President of Jujamcyn Theatres) all of whom passed before the documentary was finished.

It is a loving and beautiful little film which should go into release sometime in 2027. Theater buffs: take note.

 

Barney Rosenzweig

 

 

Barney Rosenzweig